A Christmas Story...

I heard this story a year or so ago. I fell in love with it. There is a version that is set to a musical background. I searched for it but could not find it. If anyone can find it, please let me know where it is....

Now the man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man. "I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me. That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. "If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safety ... to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand."

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - Adeste Fidelis - listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Griping Works.....

About a month ago, I was supposed to go to the Titans game, we were trying to get a demo done at Digital Dog, so I passed up the opportunity to go. I was angry about it and I wrote this post at the time. My good friend Tara knew of some tickets available for the game today and gave me the opportunity to buy them. Kathy and I talked about it, I bought them as part of my Christmas present. I offered Sarah(doesn't understand football) and Kathy(hates to be cold) the opportunity to go with me, both declined, Chris was jumping at the chance so we went. I took some pictures with my camera phone. It was fun, it wasn't a very exciting game, but the Titans won. Cleveland lost like we needed them to so now as Chris said "All we have to do is beat Indy in Indy and we go to the playoffs"...Oh boy...

We had to go to Goodlettsville to get the tickets, its about a 25 or 30 mile drive, some highway miles...I thought it would be a good drive for Chris to make. He did very well, we went to Rivergate afterwards, he drove there too, a few rough spots, but he's doing well. I can't get over the weird feeling of putting my life in the hands of someone whose diaper I used to change. See Tara's post about Ethan's first drive

I'm not sure which is tougher, Chris driving with me in the car, or me driving with him in the car. He loves to point out the cases where I just might be a skosh over the speed limit....or if I forget to use my blinker...or whatever infraction (minor I assure you) I commit while driving. He seems to think he caught me going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, I introduced him to the concept of parallax which affects the perceived reading of a needle based instrument (such as a speedometer) based on the position of the observer (I didn't mention that a speedometer would read slower when viewed from the passenger seat). I assured him that his dad was a good driver and that the policeman that pulled us over on the way to soccer practice (when he was 5) was just having a bad day....

The mice in the piano....

Its been quite a day week month. I've been trying to write this post for several days. Here's what's going on: Friday was my last day at Digital Dog, on Wednesday the car that I normally drive (a Honda CRV) rolled over 100,000 miles. (I'm a run the wheels off of it, kind of guy. We don't trade very often.) Also, I just heard today that the truck passed the emissions test (yeah!)

Originally, I had planned to do a post about the car turning 100K miles. I took the camera along on the day that it turned over so that I could record the event for posterity. The most amazing thing that needed photographing, however, was the sky. For the last year or so, I've really started paying attention to clouds. They are like a beautiful picture painted on a huge canvas hanging over our heads. I wonder if God thinks of it that way. I was also struck by the blue sky behind the clouds, it was gorgeous. (I have a few more pictures here)

This reminded of a commercial years ago where a child asks a father "Why is the sky blue?" and the dad begins to explain the atmospheric absorption theory. Of course, the child has no interest in the scientific theory behind why the sky is blue.

It is interesting how we are affected by the color blue, I copied this from a page on the psychology of colors:

Blue

Physiological Effect: In contrast to red, blue proves to lower blood pressure. Blue can be linked to the throat and thyroid gland. Blue also has a very cooling and soothing affect, often making us calmer. Deep blue stimulates the pituitary gland, which then regulates our sleep patterns. This deeper blue also has proved to help the skeletal structure in keeping bone marrow healthy.

Psychological Effect: We usually associate the color blue with the night and thus we feel relaxed and calmed. Lighter blues make us feel quiet and away from the rush of the day. These colors can be useful in eliminating insomnia. Like yellow, blue inspires mental control, clarity and creativity. However, too much dark blue can be depressing.

But, the question really is...why is the sky blue? Does it all boil down to math and science? or does God use the physical laws of our world to paint us a beautiful picture or to calm us? I was reminded of a story that I heard years ago, I was able to find it through the magic of Google.

Imagine a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. In their piano world the music of the instrument filled all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who made the music - though invisible to them - above, yet close to them. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see. Then one day a daring mouse climbed up part of the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which tremble and vibrate. The mice must revise all their old beliefs. Some, however, still held on to the faith in the Unseen Player.

Later, another explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, many hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it all went to show that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. Now mothers told their little ones about the myth of the Unseen Player.

But the pianist continued to play.
(from the LONDON OBSERVER)

As we learn more and more about our universe we learn that we live in a finely tuned universe. The slightest change in any one of many factors would mean that we could not survive. Are we here because everything just fell into place? We won some cosmic lottery? Or, was this universe made for the specific purpose of us being here? My belief is that we are here because God wants us here. The sky is blue because blue makes a beautiful canvas and the sunset is God's way of saying goodnight...

We need some monuments....

When the children were small, Kathy and I used the envelope system. When you get paid, you separate cash into envelopes dedicated to budget item. When the cash for that category is gone, you are done. It's a great system, but it can have its downfalls to be explained here.....

I had just gotten paid so our envelopes were freshly stocked. I needed go to town to run several errands so Kathy asked me to stop by the grocery store. I took the grocery envelope with me and headed out. I had several things in my hands when I was getting in the car. I had to go take something to Kathy's sister, Walmart (I think) then I stopped at the grocery. At the grocery, I picked up several things, got to the checkout line.....no envelope. I looked in the car....no envelope. Uh oh.

I explained the issue to the manager and told them if someone turned it in, to call me. I went home and explained the situation to Kathy. That was not a fun evening. Finally, we go to bed....I hear this big sigh.

"What's the matter honey?" (dumb question huh?)
"Somebody has our grocery, money"

As I laid there, it came to me. I had laid the envelope on top of the car while I was putting the stuff in the car (I'm pretty sure that my intellectual biorhythm was at a low point that day). I don't remember picking it back up. I got up, got dressed, and headed out. It was about 11pm at this point, 3 hours after my original trip.

I retraced my steps....slowly driving along the path that I followed earlier looking for the envelope. I drove all the way back to Leeville Pike where Kathy's sister lived at the time. I was just about to give up and turn around when...in the middle of Leeville Pike (a busy two lane road) there sat our envelope. All the money still there. It was amazing.

I've always wondered why Peter, after the transfiguration, said...

"Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

Someone explained to me that the Jews were always big on monuments and festivals. It's all about remembering. Remembering what God has done for you in the past, so that you will trust him in the future.

I know of several places where I would need to build some monuments. I don't think that they will let me put one in the middle of Leeville Pike.

The Love of God

I love this verse from a hymn written in 1917. It was on my mind this afternoon for some reason. I thought I would share it.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

God is good....all the time....

My good friend Richard told me of his sister and her husband who are working in Brazil. He said that no matter what was going on, how dire the circumstances, they always said...

God is good....all the time

I've never forgotten that.

There was a time (not too long ago) that if something like this had happened, I would be in an absolute panic. I'm at a different place now. I wanted to be sure that the kids knew what was going on. I told Kathy 'hey, some day they may lose a job....they need to see how God works'.

As you can imagine, starting a job search the week of Thanksgiving is not an ideal situation. Folks are either out of the office for the week, or if they are in the office, they don't want to schedule interviews or anything like that.

After hearing the news officially, I went straight to one of my own clients. Unbeknownst to me, they had been making plans for a renovation of their site. They gave me a 4 week full-time commitment. That takes care of my family through the end of the year. New projects and new positions usually come available at that time.

Also, on yesterday, I had a previous client and one that I had never done work for call me about projects that they wanted to do. Since I knew them both personally I asked 'have you read my blog recently'? They both said no.

I joined facebook a few months ago, with a few minutes of signing up, I was contacted by David Hinson of Sumner Systems Management. I worked him with many moons ago (back when we both had hair and knew everything). David is one of those guys who is technically brilliant and business savvy. He has been a great advisor to me since we reconnected. He has introduced me to several contacts.

There is a story about dealing with change that I heard Jeff Walling tell on a video.

The story had to do with watching people swim in the ocean who are not accustomed to it. He said that they are three types of people:

• The first type is resistant to the waves. They are determined to stand still and overcome the power of the waves. Of course, they can't resist and are eventually overcome


• The second type are the submariners. When a wave approaches, they dive under the water. They are able to maintain, they avoid change, but they miss all the fun.


• The third type, learns to move with the waves. They first learn to rise and fall with the wave, they eventually learn that they can ride the wave to a new place

I thought that was a great analogy. Surf's definitely up, lets see where we go.

Yesterday, hits to this blog were 3 times their normal amount. Whether you know me personally or not, If you have introduced me to a friend, or done anything to help me and my family I want to thank you.

Is your hut burning?

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

My hut burst into flames today. For the first time in 21 years of employment, I was laid off from a job. When the boss told me, I told him the above story.

Hey, anybody need a good .NET developer? Here's my resume

My house is bugged....I'm sure of it...

This weekend, I was angry....very angry. Won't go into details, but just picture me angry.

Was supposed to go to the Titans game, but couldn't. If I had gone to the game, I would have missed Church on Sunday Morning for the second week in a row. Instead, I was at Church. But I was angry.

As soon as I reached the auditorium, they began singing "This is My Father's World" which is a hymn that I've loved since the sixth grade. Hymn after hymn was uplifting and I began to relax and become less angry. The sermon was about "Worrying", which is what I was doing. The scripture reading was my all-time favorite passage:

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

At the end of the service, they introduced Paden who I baptized the week before last. John Grant also read the except from my Letter To Paden. For the first part of Sunday School period I went to several adult classes and talked about a fundraising dinner that is being planned for Arewa Aid. This organization is trying to raise money for some humanitarian aid in Northern Nigeria. This is a place where 9 year old boys are begging in the streets and water is so scarce that if you have some, you will use it for 3 or 4 different purposes before you discard it by watering your plants.

At the end of Sunday School, I felt like the luckiest man in the world. Anybody remember what I was angry about?

A letter to Paden....

I wrote a letter to Paden the morning after I baptized him. I was desperately trying to help him understand the picture of Jesus that I now have. As I've mentioned before, my picture of Jesus has dramatically changed over the years. He's not the cosmic accountant tallying up my good and bad to see how the balance tilts at the moment I die.

Anyway, in my letter to Paden I came up with this word picture that I felt a child could understand. I thought I would share it with you....

Have you ever been separated from your mom and dad in a mall or other busy place? If you haven’t, picture yourself in a very crowded place like an airport or a train station. People are whizzing by with no time to talk to you or help you. Your mom and dad are nowhere to be found. You can’t find a policeman to help. Can you imagine what that would feel like? Then, after a long time, you hear your mom’s voice and you see her, kneeling down, arms outstretched. You run to her and embrace. Can you imagine what that would feel like?

That is the best picture that I can come up with of what your relationship is with Jesus. You and I and everybody are separated from God. We are lost and without hope. There is one and only one person that can help. His name is Jesus. He’s the one that is searching through the crowd to find you.

Cry baby....

Yeah yeah, Rockies lost again....whatever...

On to more important stuff. Many of you who read this know me personally. Some don't. For those that don't, I'm fairly big guy by normal standards. I'm about 6'2" tall 270ish pounds. Small for an athlete, but fairly big for an average Joe. Many times people equate size with toughness. I don't know how many times I've heard people say, I wouldn't mess with him, look how big he is. Truth is...I'm probably the only person you'll ever meet that got in trouble at school for NOT fighting (it's true). I got in trouble for fighting also, but I did get a stern talking to from a principle for not standing up for myself.

Anyway, something else that you might not expect is that many times I'll cry at the drop of a hat. Sometimes, if I'm talking about something that is important to me, tears will just start. It's embarrassing sometimes, but I can't help it.

Baptism is one of those things that makes me cry. I've mentioned before that I went through a really tough time about 11-12 years ago. It was during that time that a counselor helped me make the connection between my spirituality and my life. It sounds funny to say that now, but there really wasn't much connection before that. I was compartmentalized. Spirituality was a slice in my life. Finally, somebody said to me if your life is a pie, spirituality isn't a slice, it's the crust. I guess if you are going to get through to me, an analogy involving food is the way to do it.

Once I went through that time in my life, and I really made the connection, baptisms have always made me cry. Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of baptizing my nephew Paden Robertson. I was telling my boss that I needed to leave early so that I could baptize my nephew. Yeah, you guessed it...when I was telling him I felt the tears come. I held them back, but it was close.

Baptizing a child is one of those things that makes people uncomfortable. Chris was baptized when he was 9. He had been talking about it for a while, I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure he was 'ready'. Sarah has been talking about it, is she 'ready'? does she understand? that always seems to be the concern.

When I look at my own experience, I was baptized at church camp when I was about 11, because everybody else was. At 16, I realized that I had done it for the wrong reason, so I was baptized again 'to be sure I had done it right'. Well, I look back now, I certainly didn't have the understanding then that I have now. So was I 'ready' at 16?

As I struggle with this, I think about Phillip talking to the Ethiopian in Acts 8. He was obviously a spiritual guy already, but he didn't know Jesus. Phillip talks to him as they are driving down the road. We have no idea how long they talked, but it seems to me that he went from 'not ready' to 'ready' in the course of a single conversation. How much do you need to now before you are ready?

Jesus is the one...He's the Good News from God. Do you believe that? As far as I can tell....you are ready.

Who is the pearl?

Three years ago, when Chris was in the 6th grade, I went with him on a school field trip to Land Between the Lakes. It was a really cool experience. One of the neatest things that they did was a challenge course. A group of kids goes through this course together. They were faced with several challenges. Parents went along, but we were under strict orders not to help. The challenges were designed so that the kids had to rely on one another to complete the task. It was cool.

One night before we went to bed, we had a campfire devotional. The devotional thought was presented by Jason Miller and I thought that it was fantastic. I was reminded of it when I read a story about the guy who bought a rock (20 years ago) and it turned out to be a sapphire (so he claimed). Anyway, self esteem has always been something I struggled with. There are times when I've just felt worthless and useless. Fortunately, I've not experienced that in a while. Thoughts like the following have really helped me, so I thought I would share:

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells several 'Kingdom' parables. The first two parables are about a farmer. When he explains the parable of the weeds to his disciples in verse 37, he tells them that he is the farmer. And I believe that most of the time when we think about these parables, we consider the farmer or sower to be Jesus.

If you skip down to the Parable of the Net, you see a picture of a fisherman separating the good fish from the bad fish. Jesus tells us that the angels are the ones that are going to come on his behalf and separate the good from the bad. Essentially, he is the still the main character.

The most interesting parable that Jason mentioned is the Parable of the hidden treasure in verses 44 and 45.

44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

I don't know if I was taught this or not, but when I think about these parables, I've usually put myself in the place of the man and the merchant. Something like, "When I find Jesus, I should give everything else up for him". There is nothing wrong with that interpretation, however, as Jason pointed out, why do we make ourselves the main character in these parables when all of the surrounding parables have Jesus as the main character? What happens when Jesus becomes the main character? We become the treasure...we become the pearl.

Do you feel that way? To be honest, I don't. Whenever I think about it, I am so humbled that it brings me to tears. He found me...and considered me to be a hidden treasure....a pearl of great price.....sold everything he had....and bought me.

Wow...great thought....

By definition....

These two words are used a lot in mathematics. 'By definition' basically means "don't ask why, it just is".

Please bear with me, there is a point to this...
Here's a quick example, in the field of probability they use a mathematical function called the factorial. The factorial is represented by an exclamation point, the easiest way to explain it is to show an example:

3! = 6 (3 x 2 x 1 )
6! = 720 (6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1)

Now, here's the kicker....

0! = 1 ?!?!?!!?!?!

Why? 'By definition', don't ask why, just accept it.

Now the real point...
Yesterday, I was talking with someone who was having some pretty deep struggles spiritually. He asked a question that I struggle with. It boiled down to this idea.

If God is good, and all powerful, why does bad stuff happen?

I was reminded of a broadcast that I listened to from Ravi Zacharius. He was having a question and answer session with some students at a prestigious university. One of the students asked Ravi, "Is it right for God to do such and so". Ravi spent several minutes talking about the fact that there is no sense of right and wrong that exists outside of God. God is the one that defines right and wrong, so if God does it, it is right and good 'by definition'. Don't ask why, just accept it.

The story that I think of here is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Everything is doing just fine then suddenly, your family turns against you, you are now a slave in a foreign country. You work your way out of that hole, then suddenly, you are accused of a crime that you didn't commit and now you are in jail. The story goes on and on until the climax where we find that Joseph is right where God needed him to be to save his people. The whole story is in Genesis 37-45.

When Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, he says something amazing:

"And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. " 8 "So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

We all have our definition of good. My definition includes me and my family being healthy, all of our bills are paid, we have good friends, basically nothing bad happens. Anything different from that is not good in my book. But what if God needs me in a different place? What if, like Joseph, he needs me to go through a little bit of hell to be where he wants me to be? I might not like it, but I'll need to go through it.

I don't pretend to have all of the answers, does God make bad stuff happen? or does he just allow it to happen? I don't know that it makes a lot of difference either way. I don't understand, I just have to remember that God is good, by definition. I heard this quote several years ago, I tried to find the original source for it, but couldn't. I think it is appropriate here:

"A God that is small enough for my mind, is not big enough for my knees"

Amen

Power Under Control

Fred was an easy target. He was a bit goofy, a little effeminate, one of those guys that younger men find it easy to make fun of. Perry was a boisterous young guy that moved here from Louisiana. He was loud and a little bit mean. He found it easy to make fun of Fred. We all did to a certain extent, but Perry, for some reason, was particularly cruel. One day, they got to the point where Perry challenged Fred to a fight. Fred walked away. Years later, when I left that job, I found out that Fred was a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwando. It was something that he had a passion for, but he kept a secret from anyone at the office.

I remember, as a kid, hearing lessons about how Jesus didn't open his mouth when he was being accused. I would be taught lessons about how "He was a sheep, led to the slaughter". Even the pictures that you see of him portray him as a gaunt, weak looking man. But he had tremendous power. In the garden, he told Peter, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?". He let Peter, and us, know that he could have stopped it at any time.

Turning the other cheek was always something that I struggled with. I hate feeling weak. If I walked away, it was like I had accepted defeat. Later on though, I finally learned, that walking away is not necessarily weakness....it it simply power under control.

Could it really be that simple?

I was reading a blog concerning a fairly polarizing issue with a particular group of believers. Those on one side of the issue considered it to be a 'salvation issue' (if you do that you are lost) where others considered it to be more a matter of preference.

For years, I've been one of those that constantly worried...am I saved? how do I know? Could Jesus' blood really take care of that thing I did? I was often confused about whether I was 'good enough' (I'm not) or had done enough (I haven't) for Jesus to pick me when he comes to gather his own. I was confused many times by what I was taught. It seemed that I was being taught that someone could be lost for believing differently even though you couldn't find two people that agreed on everything.

Though I had read this story many times, the implications of it had really not hit me until someone pointed it out to me. Is this really a picture of what Jesus is going to ask at the judgement? Are these the real 'salvation issues' I think that they probably are. Maybe we should quit arguing about differences of opinion and make sure that we have these taken care of.

Cruel and unusual punishment....

I heard a news story this morning that the govenor had issued a moratorium on executions in Tennesse due to a Federal Judge's Ruling.

My first thought was "I wonder what the Romans in Jesus' time would have said about that?". My understanding of the Roman philosphy of the death penalty was...

Make the execution....

• as painful as possible


• as public as possible


• as humiliating as possible

There have been many details given about crucifixion, I did a quick search and found this.

The most amazing thing to me about Jesus sacrifice though is....

• He knew all along what was coming


• He knew he would be all alone, (even without God)


• He could have stopped it at any time

But he didn't.....thank God.

Beauty in Brokenness....

Here is a clip from something I read this morning..

Somehow, uniquely, God desires to use those difficult moments of our lives to bring forth something extraordinarily beautiful. Even the natural creation attests to this truth. In fall, we marvel at the gorgeous, lush colors of burnt amber, burnished orange, brilliant red, and bright yellow leaves, even as that beauty belies the slow and gradual death of those leaves. Winter buries those leaves under the cold, dark blanket of snow and frost. And yet, death brings forth life. Spring bursts forth year after year with jonquils, iris, lilies, and all the beautiful pastels of new life.

If you haven't heard of Ravi Zacharius before he is an amazing man with an amazing story. I was introduced to his work some time last year by my good friend Trent.

Ravi has a couple of radio broadcasts that are very good. The word of God can appeal to us in so many ways. Ravi appeals through the intellect.

What is a baseball worth?

This summer, our church had a yard sale. Someone had donated a whole box of baseballs. The marked price was 2$ each. At some point during the sale, everything was marked down to half price, so they went for $1 each. This week, there was a baseball that sold for $752,467. So, I ask the question again...What is a baseball worth? What is it that makes that ball worth so much more than the ones on the yard sale table? The reason that the second ball is so much more valuable, has nothing to do with the ball itself, the reason that ball is valuable is because it is associated with an event. A once in a lifetime occurence.

There are some people that are blessed with a healthy self esteem. There are many (my self included) that tend to derive their sense of self worth from something external. Some feel valuable because of what they can achieve, some feel valuable because of how they look, some feel valuable because of what they have. I fear that one of satan's very effective tools is to take away whatever it is that we base our value on....the athlete gets hurt, the beauty queen ages, the millionaire loses everything. Then where do you go?

Just like the baseball, our true value has nothing to do with what we can do, what we look like or what we have. Our true value is based on our association with an event, a once in an eternity occurence. To be honest, I don't fully grasp the depth of the sacrifice that was made for me. I do know, however, that the Creator of the universe was desperately searching for Plan B.

For years, I've thought something like this "If you group everybody together, then that group would be worth Jesus dying for". Someone changed my perspective on that when they said "The true power of Jesus' sacrifice comes when you realize that if you were the only person on the planet, he would have done the same thing." I don't know that I've fully come to terms with that, but I'm farther along than I used to be. I guess that's what transformation is all about.

Through the eyes of a child....

Years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a class taught by Bud Lambert. Bud holds multiple graduate degrees in addition to a Bachelor's Degree in Bible translation. He is truly an intellectual. At the same time, he is one of the most humble men I've ever met. He frequently began his class with a statement like this:

"What we are talking about today are conclusions that I've come to based on my own study and experiences. You should only consider them to be true only if after your own careful study and consideration that you find them to be true."

My point is, I've had no formal Bible education, my interpretation of different verses will likely vary from flawed to dead wrong. This is simply where I am...

More thoughts on Thorn Removal

You think I'd have it down by now, I've been practicing for 30 years.
I should have walked a thousand miles, what am I still doing here?
"Clumsy" -- Chris Rice

I've been thinking about 'thorns' (weaknesses, addictions whatever) and this question came to me:

"If I have an addiction or a weakness and I earnestly pray (like Paul) for God to take it away, Why would a loving God leave it in place?"

I would never presume to know the mind of God, but I have a theory...

Years ago, one of my addictions was smoking. My lovely wife (whose only possible addiction is Diet Mt. Dew) hated smoking and would say "just quit". Sounds easy. I tried to quit for years, and finally did. However, Kathy simply could not relate to the struggle, she had not been there. A few years later, I went to a Bible study. I was the last to leave and the host followed me to the car. Before long we began talking about common struggles. It was an amazing experience to be able to talk to someone who could truly relate. The friendship that started that evening remains to this day.

I believe that our weaknesses may remain so that we can help each other, but also, to help reach out to those who are struggling and don't know the way out. Who is better qualified to reach out to a struggling soul than someone who has been there?

I can remember sitting in Bible classes and hearing Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." and thinking, "I can't be perfect, but I can hide my imperfections." As I've grown, I think that by hiding my imperfections, I've failed to help someone that I could have helped, or I've failed to reach out to someone that could have been reached.

Like the blind man in John 9, my weaknesses may be there so that the work of God might be displayed in my life.

His Grace is sufficient. His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

Thorn Removal

Church means so much more to me now than it used to. When I was younger, it was a time to see my friends. During the summer, several people from the youth group would go play minature golf or go to a movie afterwards. It was jumping off place, an obligation. Zoom forward about 20 years. I was a shell of a man, completely empty inside. I can remember it was a struggle to make it through each day and I would tell myself, "If you can just make it to Sunday" or "Just one more day until Bible study". I gained so much strength from Bible study at that time in my life. It was what kept me going.

This past Sunday reminded me of that time in my life. We had a family 'meltdown' trying to get everyone dressed and out the door. I can remember thinking "If we can just make it to Church, everything will be so much better". Well, we made it, and as I expected, by the time we left, everything was ok.

During the sermon, Steve Flatt made a brief reference to II Corinthians 12:7 where the Apostle Paul asks God to remove his "thorn in the flesh". As I've been taught all of my life, he provides a list of possible physical ailments that Paul possibly had. The one that I've heard most often is that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was poor eyesight. I've never understood that if Paul was dealing with a physical ailment, why God would say "My Grace is sufficient for you" in that passage.

I believe that we all have weaknesses. I know that I do. There are things that satan can put in my path that he knows I'll trip on everytime. Do you have a weakness that you struggle with? Do you feel like you will never get rid of the power of that particular temptation in your life? I believe that Paul had something that he struggled with Romans 7:14-25 seems to make that pretty clear. We don't know what Paul struggled with, but I can certainly identify with the feeling of "what a wretched man I am" whenever I stumble.

So, now let's go back to II Corinthians 12, and consider Paul's weakness to be his "thorn in the flesh". Does the passage make more sense? God says "My Grace is sufficient for you" and "My strength is made perfect in weakness". To me, these thoughts are so much more powerful than thinking that Paul was asking God to give him 20/20 vision.